Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Lt. Jose Salcido, who had been mentioned as a candidate for sheriff next year, was appointed Wednesday as a senior policy adviser to San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed.

Salcido, 54, a former president of the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, will be responsible for public safety — a hot-button topic over the last year — and dealing with neighborhood groups.

“More than anything, I want to bring my ears to the table and try to find common ground,” said Salcido, who will retire from the sheriff’s department. “It’s a huge honor, and I plan to make the mayor proud.”

Salcido has served in the sheriff’s department since 1977 and has been a lieutenant since 2002. He has had a famously frosty relationship with Sheriff Laurie Smith, whom he opposed in the primary in 1998.

A big, bluff man known for his affability and straightforward talk, Salcido will be partly responsible for bridging the divide between the police department and its increasingly restive critics.

The new job will pay $122,891.

Salcido, who was born in San Jose, initially intended to be a priest: He graduated high school from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Mountain View and later received a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University.

His community volunteer work includes serving on the board of directors of Sacred Heart Community Service and the Bellarmine College Prep Dad’s Club Board.

Four years ago, Salcido was embroiled in a political battle with members of the district attorney’s office over how the deputies union approached wage negotiations with the county. A DA investigator’s report leaked to the media accused Salcido of perjury.

Salcido denounced the report as shoddy and took a polygraph exam that he said cleared him. The DA’s investigation never produced any charges against the lieutenant.

Violent police encounters in California last year led to the deaths of 157 people and six officers, the state attorney general’s office said Thursday in a report that provides the first statewide tally on police use-of-force incidents.